JAKARTA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian foreign direct investment (FDI) touched 107.9 trillion rupiah (about 7.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year amid weakening global economic growth, the country's investment coordinating board disclosed here on Tuesday.
The figure is bit less than the 108.9 trillion rupiah (about 7.7 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March of last year, according to data from the board.
High investment cost amid trade conflicts had factored to the smaller flows of direct investment into Indonesia in the first quarter, said Thomas Trikasih Lembong, chairman of Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board.
The hawkish policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve last year culminated to the hike of cost for investment, Lembong said.
Lembong's statement came following the downgrade of the global economic growth this year to 3.3 percent by the IMF on April 9, which was 0.2 percentage points lower than its former estimation in January.
In addition to the factors, Lembong said, investors have been in a position of "wait and see" for months ahead of the country's presidential poll's on April 17.
Sectors of transport, warehouse, electricity, gas, waters and property contributed the most to the flows of the foreign direct investment in the three months ended March, said Farah Ratna Dewi Indriani, acting deputy chairman for investment control and implementation of the board.
"For the FDI, the investment flowed the most from Singapore, followed by China," which logged 1.72 billion U.S. dollars and 1.16 billion U.S. dollars respectively, she said.
The Southeast Asia's biggest economy is looked to expand 5.3 percent this year and 5.3 percent to 5.6 percent next year after registering a 5.17 percent growth last year.
